weekend in review

when eli doesn't wake us up, the dogs do. when the dogs don't wake us up, the divine steps in and causes some strange occurrence to make sure we never sleep past 7:15. saturday, it was the smoke alarms. i was out of bed and into the hall before the first beep stopped. then it stopped. weird, but i was up and ready to find the culprit. no culprit. and it didn't wake eli up! minutes later, it went off again. ah, there is a defect, i thought. our smoke detectors are hard wired with battery backup. i found the breaker tripped, so i flipped it and they went off again. all the batteries being dead may have tripped an alarm, so off to the hardware store for batteries i went. replacing all the batteries and flipping the breaker again...alarms go off again. i checked each one, my ears ringing, and found one of the 8 to be defective, causing a false alarm. made in china, no less. after removing it from the circuit, all was blissful.

i was able to get out on the oiz for some mountain biking after the soccer game. again pressed for time, i opted for the 'wood. it was a little crowded, but not so bad that i had to dodge many people. the only time i wanted to boot someone was when a couple just stood on the trail while their dog and i were vying for the same line in the trail. why don't you just call you dog, dufus??? i would have an aneurysm if a bike were within 10 feet of my dogs.

tired and hungry, i hurried home and cleaned up so the beautiful mrs k and i could eat at bandanna's. mmm, i loves me some bandanna's. so does eli. fat and happy, we did the target/deirberg's double, for food and a new smoke detector, and finally made it home in time to collapse while eli kept going like an energizer bunny.

thoroughly congested and in the worst mood, i woke up sunday and loaded up the mountain bike to go do the time trial the segal boys have set up at klondike. now klondike is not my favorite place. it's far away and the bluff descents make my heart stop. but, i wanted to show my support for the boys as well as get in my hard ride for the week. i arrived early and attacked my fears first; i went down the hogsback. yikes. after that, i rode up it to simulate the time trial, and found that going up it is the preferred direction for someone who prefers climbing, like me. i rode a bunch more of the trails, really enjoying donjo's trail a lot. plenty warmed up, i met the guys at the starting line and they gave me the #1 spot. we chatted a bit, and as i looked around, i found that they all had singles! i looked at myself, all kitted out in ghisallo, carbon lightweight full suspension bike and all. i felt like a geek. these guys were out for a good time and i was the ultimate racer geek.

a few more guys showed, and two of them even had gears. there, i didn't feel so bad. i blasted off, instantly going anaerobic. it was going to be a tough hill climb, i though. but i settled in and grunted it out, feeling like i could've only gone a few seconds faster if i hadn't made so many mistakes. the climbing part was great, though. after all 12 of us finished, i had the fastest time. it was cool because there was no pressure, no stress, and the guys were all having a good time. i'd like to do the next few of these if i could. it was a blast.

after shoving a couple of burritos down my throat, i met the beautiful mrs k at the shop and we went for a ride. she has been busting for a ride all week, so even though i was toasted from off-roading, and cold, and crabby, i took her on a nice tour of west county. we went up shepard, over 109 to AB, then down smith school, up reiger, along wildhorse, down hardt, and back to civilization on wildhorse. it was windy and i was cold, but mrs k got her ride in.